Paraguay People Will Be Asked to Help Locate Mengele

May 13, 1985

PARIS (May. 12)

Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld announced here that his wife Beate will appeal directly to the people of Paraguay to obtain information on the whereabouts of Josef Mengele, the notorious Auschwitz death camp doctor.

Klarsfeld said his wife will go to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, next weekend for a television appearance during which she will present a two-and-a-half minute film showing atrocities committed by Mengele and a description of him. Mengele, if alive, is 74 years old. He became a Paraguayan citizen in 1949 but was stripped of his citizenship in 1979 under international pressure. Paraguayan officials claim that they have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Serge Klarsfeld accused the Paraguayan authorities of “doing their best to try to avoid finding Mengele.” He said they agreed to air the film in order to show that “they are not protecting him.”

THREE COUNTRIES COORDINATING EFFORTS

In a related development, representatives of the Attorney Generals of Israel, the United States and West Germany met for two days in Frankfurt last week to coordinate their activities in the worldwide search for Mengele.

Dennis Goldman, of the international affairs division of Israel’s Attorney General’s office, disclosed that the three countries had reached an agreement on opening direct communications between them for exchange of information both on the legal and the investigatory levels with the goal of bringing Mengele to trial for “crimes against humanity.”

Last week, Israeli Justice Minister Moshe Nissim announced that the government of Israel and the World Zionist Organization are jointly offering a $1 million reward for information that would lead to the capture, arrest and trial in Israel of Mengele. Israel has also asked Interpol, the international police organization, to locate, arrest and extradite to Israel the mass murderer.